LAND USE COMMITTEE TO HEAR RESOLUTION BY SUPERVISORS WIENER AND COHEN TO SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE POLICE STAFFING IN LIGHT OF POPULATION GROWTH, LOW STAFFING LEVELS, AND HIGH CRIME RATES

Posted on June 15, 2015

While San Francisco’s population has grown significantly, as have crime rates, police staffing has gone down, and San Francisco has less staffing than peer cities. Report by Controller will show need for increased police staffing by hundreds of officers. Resolution by Supervisors Wiener and Cohen calls for policy to increase police staffing levels

WHEN: Monday, June 15th, 1:30 PM

WHERE: Land Use and Transportation Committee

San Francisco City Hall

Room 250

WHAT: Today the Land Use and Transportation Committee will hear a report by the Controller’s Office on San Francisco police staffing levels and consider a resolution introduced by Supervisors Wiener and Cohen to tie police staffing goals to population growth. At the hearing, the Controller’s Office will present a report showing how San Francisco’s police staffing levels have decline in recent years and how overall staffing compares unfavorably to other cities. The current number of sworn full duty officers in San Francisco is 1,730, down from 1,951 in 2010. This staffing places San Francisco significantly behind peer cities such as Washington, DC, Chicago, and Philadelphia in terms of police officers per capita. As a result of this severe decline in staffing – at a time when San Francisco’s population has grown dramatically and when new neighborhoods have been created – the police department has struggled to have sufficient beat officers, effective traffic enforcement, and consistent enforcement against property crimes. As San Francisco works to get back to acceptable police staffing levels, the question becomes what is the right staffing level. The City Charter as adopted in 1994 defines full staffing as 1,971 officers. Yet, that number is now outdated, since San Francisco has grown significantly since that number was adopted in 1994 – from 742,000 to 841,000, an increase of 13.3%. Supervisor Wiener and Cohen’s resolution takes that population growth into account by redefining full police staffing as over 2,200 (i.e., 13.3% above the 1,971 minimum staffing level set in 1994). The San Francisco Police Department will also present data at the hearing.